Abstract

Palynology, the study of pollen and spores, is a field of study pursued by at least three groups of people, who, as the author of this book notes, tend to have little contact among them. The first group consists of botanists interested in topics such as plant biology, evolution, or allergens (palynology in the strict sense). The other two groups include Quaternary paleoecologists interested in paleoecology and climate change, among other topics, and geologists interested in subjects such as stratigraphic correlation and evolution.

Palynology can also be considered in a broader sense of the term, and in this book includes all palynomorphs: “organic microfossils that are found in our maceration preparations of sedimentary rocks” (p. 2). Geologists use the term palynology to include all palynomorphs, and although the book is written primarily for them, there is much of interest to the first and second groups as well.